Brightspeed vs Xfinity
These two overlap in 111 metro areas and 557 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.
Brightspeed vs Xfinity at a glance
| Measure | Brightspeed | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 1,793,486 | 37,853,193 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Brightspeed is available | Where Xfinity is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.
Where you can get both
Metro areas where both Brightspeed and Xfinity report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.
These percentages count each operator's whole reported network. 35.2% of what Brightspeed files with the FCC is fiber. The FCC publishes that split nationally and never per metro, so a high number here means the operator reaches the metro, not that it reaches it on that technology.
| Metro area | Brightspeed | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Martinsville, VA Micro Area | 89% | 90% |
| Greeneville, TN Micro Area | 81% | 89% |
| Gettysburg, PA Metro Area | 80% | 90% |
| Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA Metro Area | 76% | 87% |
| Charlottesville, VA Metro Area | 78% | 69% |
| Galesburg, IL Micro Area | 67% | 64% |
| Hinesville, GA Metro Area | 56% | 77% |
| Dothan, AL Metro Area | 70% | 54% |
| Johnson City, TN Metro Area | 85% | 50% |
| Dixon, IL Micro Area | 44% | 54% |
| Warsaw, IN Micro Area | 66% | 37% |
| Plymouth, IN Micro Area | 67% | 34% |
| Huntingdon, PA Micro Area | 25% | 48% |
| Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area | 23% | 92% |
| Lewistown, PA Micro Area | 21% | 59% |
| Decatur, IN Micro Area | 81% | 20% |
| Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, SC Metro Area | 27% | 19% |
| Lock Haven, PA Micro Area | 17% | 77% |
| Lancaster, PA Metro Area | 16% | 81% |
| Roanoke, VA Metro Area | 15% | 17% |
| Wabash, IN Micro Area | 14% | 41% |
| Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area | 68% | 13% |
| Altoona, PA Metro Area | 13% | 44% |
| Danville, VA Micro Area | 12% | 66% |
| York-Hanover, PA Metro Area | 11% | 89% |
Showing 25 of 111 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Brightspeed reports service in 20 states and Xfinity in 41, and they share 19 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
190 metro areas have Brightspeed and not Xfinity
- Kinston, NC Micro Area 91% covered
- Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area 89% covered
- Wilson, NC Micro Area 85% covered
- Lima, OH Metro Area 84% covered
- New Bern, NC Metro Area 84% covered
- Henderson, NC Micro Area 84% covered
- Greenville, NC Metro Area 83% covered
- Elizabeth City, NC Micro Area 83% covered
243 metro areas have Xfinity and not Brightspeed
- Barnstable Town, MA Metro Area 100% covered
- Key West, FL Micro Area 99% covered
- Ocean City, NJ Metro Area 99% covered
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area 98% covered
- Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ Metro Area 98% covered
- San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area 98% covered
- Vineyard Haven, MA Micro Area 98% covered
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area 97% covered
States where only Brightspeed reports service: Oklahoma. States where only Xfinity reports service: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and 10 more.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
Which should you pick?
Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.
That is the case here: Brightspeed is mainly fiber and Xfinity is mainly cable. The practical difference is upload speed and consistency rather than headline download speed, we explain what that means here.
See which one reaches your address →
What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.